Heterosexual behaviour,risk factors and sexually transmitted infections among selfclassified homosexual and bisexual men

Abstract

Our study of men presenting at a genitourinary medicine clinic shows that self-classification into homosexual or bisexual does not accurately define behaviour. We found that 8.5% of self-defined homosexual men had had heterosexual intercourse in the past year and that 26% of self-defined bisexual men had not. Overall, 19% of homosexual/bisexual men reported vaginal intercourse in the past year and a further 42% in their lifetime. Compared with heterosexual men attending our clinic, the practising bisexual men were significantly more likely to come from a white ethnic group ( P 0.003) and to use condoms invariably with regular female partners ( P =0.0001). There was no significant difference in consent for HIV testing between homosexual (43%), practising bisexual (49%) and heterosexual (42%) men despite significantly different perceptions of risk. None of the practising bisexual men was seropositive for HIV infection ( P =0.06) or for syphilis ( P =0.02), or had chlamydial infection, which was found infrequently among homosexual men in general ( P =0.00001). HIV infection found in 19.4% of the exclusively homosexual men was associated with more frequent alcohol consumption ( P =0.06). <